Want what, I have asked myself many times since the Lord has brought this passage to my heart gently, but persistently the past four years. Want, or be in want, of what? Realizing that I am taking the passage out of the context of the entirety of King David’s psalm, I still wonder at this opening verse.

It tells me three things to start of with. 1) there is a Lord, and He is THE Lord. 2) He is my shepherd (leader, whom I follow) and this causes 3) me to not want. This is a basic hermeneutical breakdown of the above passage; hermeneutics is the interpretation of biblical texts.

Perhaps it also means that the longing that we tend to have for more, our never ceasing venture as chronic consumers, buying, spending, discarding more and more. It’s been called the “God Void,” and as such, it has been recognized by all of us at times in our lives. It is this “God Void” that we try and fill with meaningless consumer crap, other people (usually through relationships, be they successful or not), or the seeking of intellectualism and further school, or we pour ourselves unhealthily entirely into careers, and our work, trying to fill that void.

Therefore, because the Lord is my Shepard, I have no need to want, because that “God Void” is no longer such.